1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept generally relates to an image forming apparatus, a printing control terminal apparatus, and an image forming method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which processes printing data including a transparency pattern, a printing control terminal apparatus, and an image forming method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, if a user performs printing through an application program in a personal computer (PC), the user edits and prints an image displayed on a monitor of the PC. Here, the user wants to print the image as it is displayed on the monitor through a printer. However, an image which is actually displayed on the monitor appears slightly different from a printed image due to several characteristics of a printer apparatus and several causes such as a color reproduction characteristic difference between the monitor and a printer and the like. This slight difference between the actually displayed image and the printed image occurs due to a difference occurring when the PC transmits documents and pictures made in the application program to the monitor and the printer, besides the physical color reproduction characteristic difference between the monitor and the printer.
For example, if a user adds a box graphic in the application program, the application program has vector information regarding the box graphic. This vector information is seen as a picture on the monitor through a rendering process of a graphic engine. Rendering refers to a process of drawing and showing vector information to express a graphic as an actual picture.
The graphic engine, which shows a document of the application program on the monitor, performs rendering in consideration of characteristics of the monitor, i.e., a physical color reproduction characteristic of the monitor.
If printing is performed in the application program using a printer apparatus not the monitor, a driver or a Printer Command Language (PCL) or a PS emulation performs this rendering process. Here, the rendering process is performed differently in consideration of characteristics of a final output apparatus, i.e., characteristics of the monitor and the printer. An image which is actually displayed on the monitor appears differently from a printed image due to the different performances of the rendering process.
In particular, when a transparency is reproduced in a specific application program, a difference frequently occurs in the reproduction of the transparency. In more detail, a pattern, which is used by a conventional application program to reproduce a transparency, frequently causes the deterioration of an image in an actually printed result. As described above, a monitor is an apparatus which can express an alpha blending (α-blending) result thereon as it is. However, a printer goes through a color transformation process of transforming an RGB color used by the monitor into a CMYK toner color and then halftoning to be printed by a printer apparatus in order to obtain printing data which is to be printed.
Accordingly, if α-blending processing is not performed with respect to color information of an object whose transparency has been set, but the color information is handed over as a pattern format, and the transparency of the object is to be reproduced when a driver is performing a rendering process, an actually printed image may be deteriorated differently from a transparency image that a user wants to output and edit on a monitor. In general, since a printer apparatus cannot perform printing without performing halftoning, the printer apparatus deteriorates an image quality of an incoming pattern format image.